Actions

Trump gifts federal employees with a day off on Christmas Eve

Posted: 10:35 AM, Dec 19, 2018

Updated:2018-12-19 12:53:31-05

By:
Kelly Bazzle

President Donald Trump is gifting federal employees with a day off on Christmas Eve this year.

On Tuesday, the President signed an executive order excusing government employees from work on Monday, Dec. 24, 2018. The executive order declared that "All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Monday, December 24, 2018, the day before Christmas Day."

The President signed the order amid uncertainty of a possible partial government shutdown if a funding bill doesn't get approved by Friday.

Christmas is always a holiday for the federal government but presidents in the past have made their own judgment calls when Christmas Eve falls mid-week. Last year, Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday, so government employees did not get an extra day off.

The executive order does state that certain offices must remain open "on December 24, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need."